Machine for granulating tobacco.



Patented Oct. I7, |899.

' N. P. PERKINS.

MACHINE FOR GRANULATING TOBACCO.

(Application filed Sept. 29, 1898.)

(No Model.)

abtowua No. 635,076. Patented 0ct'.-l7, |899.

N. P. PERKlNs. MACHINE `FR GBANULATING TOBACCO. (Application med sepa.29, 1898.1 (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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NICHOLAS P. PERKINS, OF ROANOKE, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO rII'IE PERKINSMACHINE COMPANY, OF VIRGINIA.

`MACHINE FOR GRANULATING TOBACCO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent. No. 635,076, dated October1'7, 1899.

Application iled September 29i 1898. Serial No. 69224L (No model.)

To bZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NICHOLAS P. PERKINS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Roanoke, in the county of Roanoke and State of Virginia,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines forGranulating Tobacco; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to tobaccdcuttin g machines, and more particularlyto that class of inventions for granulating smoking-tobacco.

rlhe object of the invention is to improve the construction shown anddescribed in Letters Patent No. 592,064, dated October 19, 1897. In thatmachine, after the tobacco and its inherent foreign matter pass and areacted upon by the cutting mechanism, the chopped mass falls upon Vashaker, and in falling off the same is exposed to an air-blast, whichblows the lighter grains of tobacco forwardly upon a separator andallows the heavier particles, such as the stems and foreign matter, tofall upon a defiecting-shaker, which is so arranged as to convey certainclasses of particles away from the machine and allow other classes to bereturned to the cutting mechanism. 'Ihis construction and arrangement Ihave found by experience to be objectionable, for the reason that if theVblast is regulated so as to blow only the lighter particles or grainsof tobacco upon the separator heavier pieces of tobacco, such as growclose to the stems or such pieces that are imperfectly chopped by thecutting mechanism, would be conveyed from the machine with the stems orforeign matter, thus necessitating the refeeding of the mass to thecutting mechanism or resulting in the loss of tobacco which mightotherwise have been saved, and, on the other hand, if the blast wereincreased, so as to blow these heavier andimperfectly-chopped grains orpieces of tobacco upon the separator, the stems and foreign mattertherein which correspond in Weight thereto would also be blown upon theseparator,which is very undesirable, for although the coarser grains oftobacco and the stems and foreign matter would be eventually conductedback to the cutting mechan ism the smaller particles of foreign matterwould be screened through the' separators with the otherwise pure andgraded tobacco.

Another object of my present invention is to improve the screening orseparatingmechanism. In the patent above referred to the grains oftobacco are swept through the sieves. This I have found breaks thegrains or flakes and crumbles a large proportion of them into the formof dust, thus causing an unnecessary waste. In the present machine Ieffect a saving of'tobacco by dispensing with the sweepingbrushes and inlieu thereof impart a vibratory motion to the separators or screens.

With these objects in view, as Well as others which need not here bementioned, the invention consists in certain features of constructionand combination of parts,which will be hereinafter fully described andclaimed.

. In the accompanying drawings, in whichI have illustrated the preferredembodiment of my invention, Figure l is a longitudinal sectional view ofthe machine. Fig. 2 is a crosssectional View on the line X X of Fig. l.Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the cutter-head and cutter-bar comprisingthe cutting mechanism.

In the drawings, l denotes the two supporting-standards, preferablyrectangular in construction and each comprising the two horizontalpieces a a, the two vertical pieces b Z9, and the legs c c. The frontand the rear of the standards are boarded up, as are also thesides,which are provided with removable panels d d to afford convenientaccess to the interior of the frame. In the upper portion of thebox-like frame thus constructed are journaled two shafts 2, that supportan endless conveyer or apron 3. At the rear of the apron is the cuttingmechanism, comprising the cutter-bar 4E and the cooperating cutter-head5. A spring-actuated roller ll is arranged above the rear shaft 2 andinsures the delivery of the tobacco to the cutting mechanism in a smootheven mass. As all of these parts are shown and described in the patenthereinbefore referred to and in themselves form no part of the presentinvention, further descrip- IOO tion of the same will not be givenleXcept in connection with the description of the general operation ofthe machine. After the tobacco has been fed to the cutting mechanism bythe apron 3 and is chopped intograins or Hakes the mass falls upon avibratory separator A, suspended from hangers pivoted to the sides ofthe frame, and the mass is thrust in the direction of the arrow 6. Thisseparator consists of an open framework, to the upper face of which issecured a coarse screen 7 and to the lower face of which is secured afiner screen 8. Secured within the frame v at its forward end and inadvance of the forward end of the separator A is a pan 9, and working inthis pan is a conveyer 10, preferably, but not necessarily, of thebucket type. This conveyer is designed to remove the contents of the pan9 and discharge them' upon the conveyer 3.

11 denotes a shaker-board located beneath the separator A and designedto receive the screened grains of tobacco and carry them rearwardly inthe direction of the arrow 12. This shaker-board is supported uponpivoted hangers in the usual manner.

13 denotes a second vibratory separator suspended from hangers 14. Thisseparator consists of the two side pieces 15, the forward end piece 16,andthe screens 19 and 20, the former of coarser mesh than the latter andboth of finer mesh than the screens of the separator A. The action ofthis separator is to feed the mass of granulated tobacco in thedirection of the arrow 21. The rear end of the screen 20 terminatesshort of the rear end of the screen 19, for a purpose hereinafter toappear.

22 denotes a brushing mechanism located beneath the separator 13 andconsisting of three sprocket-chains 22a, supported upon sprocket-wheels23, keyed to shafts -24 and connected by transversely-extending brushes25, which on their upper run loosen the dust from the meshes of thescreen 2O and on their lower run sweep the fallen dust from the pan 26at the bottom of the machine. The direction of movement of the brushesis indicated by the arrow 27.

29 denotes a valve pivoted below and at the rear end ofthe separator 13.

30 31 denote two discharge-hoppers having conducting-pipes 32 32, thatproject through the floor.

33 denotes blowers arranged at the rear end of the machine, below and atthe rear of the shaker-board 11, and above and at the rear of theseparator 13.

34 denotes a deflecting-chute, which is the same in construction and isdesigned for the same purpose as the detlectingshaker shown in thepatent hereinbefore referred to, with the exception that in the presentcase the device is stationary.

The operation of the machine is as follows: Leaves of the tobacco areplaced upon the apron 3 and are fed thereby to the cutting' mechanism.The granulated mass now falls upon the vibratory separator A, thecoarser particles lodging upon the screen 7, and the finer passingtherethrough and lodging upon the screen 8, and the dust and still nerparticles of tobacco falling through the screen 8 upon the shaker-board11. The mass caught and retained by the screens 7 and 8 is fed in thedirection of the arrow 6 to the pan 9 and from thence is conveyed backto the cutting mechanism by the conveyer 10 and apron 3,

where a complete and final granulation is effected. The mass which fellthrough the screens 7 and 8 upon the shaker-board 11 is composed of finetobacco llakes, dust, grit, and the like, and as this mass is shaken offthe rear end of the shaker-board 11 it falls into the air current orblast created by the blower, which is so regulated that the dust andfiakes or grains of tobacco are separated from the stems, flint, and thelike and are blown over upon the forward end of the separator 13, whilethe stems and foreign matter, being of greater specific gravity than thedust and tobacco grains, fall upon the deflecting-chute, the stems uponthe lower board 35 of the chute, and the foreign matter, which isheavier than the stems, upon the upper board 36. Receptacles may beplaced at the lower end of the chute-one to receive the stems and theother the grit, dye. The mass of tobacco and dust separated from thegrit and stems and blown over upon the separator 13 is now fed in thedirection of the arrow 21, the liner particles of tobacco and dustfalling through the screen 19 upon the screen 20 and the dust fallingthrough the screen 20 into the pan 26, from which it is removed by thelower run of the brushes 25.

If it is desired to keep the tobacco upon the screen 19, which is of thefirst grade, separate from the tobacco upon the screen 20, which is thesecond grade, the valve 29 is moved to the position shown in full linesin Fig. l, thus allowing the tobacco from the screen 19 to fall into thehopper 31 and the tobacco from the screen 2O to fall into the hopper 30,both of which lead to a room below. If, however, it is desired to mixthe tobacco, the valve is moved to the position shown in dotted lines,thus allowing the tobacco to discharge into the hopper 31.

To adapt my machine for the granulation of scrap-tobacco, I place ahopper B upon the top ot' the machine over the cutting mechanism andmount below the said hopper an endless carrier-belt- O, which forms theb ottom lof said hopper. The scrap is emptied into the hopper and iscarried by the belt C under the edge of the adjustable board' D, whichregulates the feed of tobacco. Arranged at the rear end of the machineand below and at the rear of the carrier-belt C is a blower E and belowthe blower and under the discharge end of the carrier-belt C an inclinedchute F.

The operation of the device when used for IOC) IOA

granulating scrap-tobacco is as follows: The

lscrap-pieces are placed in the hopper B and are fed by the endless beltC rearwardly and dropped down behind the cutting mechanism and withinthe blast created by the blower E. The heavierparticles-such asstems,iint,and foreign matter in general, being much heavier than thetobacco particles-fall into the inclined chute F and are conducted awayfrom the machine, while the lighter particles oftobacco are blown uponthe separator A. Those particles small enough to go through the meshesof the screens of the separator fall upon the shaker-board 1l and areoperated upon in the manner hereinbefore described, while the coarserparticles are led off and emptied into the pan 9 and from this pointconducted to the cutting mechanism by the conveyer 10 and apron 3, andthis operation continues until al1 of the stems, grit, and foreignmatter have been separated and the tobacco led from the machine incommercial form.

It is of course understood that when I granu-v late first-classtobacco-that is, the leavesthe blower E and apron C are thrown out ofgear with the driving mechanism of the machine. The hopper B is removed,thus permitting of the apron C to be used as a table upon which thebunches and leaves of tobacco are placed bythe assistant within easyreach of the operator who feeds at the forward end of the machine.

The directions of movement of the several parts, as well as thedirection of movement of the tobacco in its passage through the machine,are illustrated by arrows, and any wellknown or approved system ofgearing may be employed for Itransmitting movement from any suitablesource of power to said parts, but as the same forms no part of myinvention I do not deem it necessary either to illustrate ordescribe'it.

l. Inatobaccocutte1,the combination with the main frame, of a cuttingmechanism, a vibratory separator located below said cutting mechanism, asecond vibratory separator arranged below the first-named separator, adetiecting-chute arranged at the rear end of the machine, at the rear ofthe secondnamed vibratory separator and below the rear end of theiirst-named vibratory separator,

a shaker-board located between the two separators and adapted todischarge the material at a point above the chute and a blower arrangedat the rear of the deiiecting-chute and under the rear end of thefirst-named vibratory separator, substantially as s et forth.

2. In a tobacco-cutter,the combination with the main frame, of a cuttingmechanism, a vibratory separator located below said cutting mechanism, apan or receptacle located at the forward or discharge end of saidvibratory separator, a conveyer for removing the contents of said pan orreceptacle, a second conveyer for receiving the discharge from the firstconveyer and conducting it back to the cutting mechanism, a shaker-boardarranged below the vibratory separator, a second vibratory separatorarranged below the shaker-board, a detlecting-chute arranged below theshaker-board and at the rear of the second-named vibratory separator,and a blower arranged below and at the rear of the shaker-board and atthe rear of the deflectingchtite, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a tobacco-cutter,the combination with the main frame, of a cuttingmechanism, a vibratory separator located below said cutting mechanismand consisting of two screens, the upper one of which is coarser thanthe lower one, a pan or receptacle located at the forward or dischargeend of said vibratory separater, a conveyer for removing the contents ofsaid pan or receptacle, a second conveyer for receiving the dischargefrom the first conveyer and conducting it back to the cutting mechanism,a shaker-board arranged below the vibratory' separator, a secondvibratory separator arranged-below the shaker-board and consisting oftwo screens, the upper one of which is coarser than the lower one, saidi in g mechanism located below the lower screen,

a pan located below the brushing mechanism, a valve arranged at thedischarge end of the screens and adapted to either direct the combinedcon tents of the two screens into one receptacle, or separate thecontents and direct them into separate receptacles, a deiiectingchutearranged at the rear end of the lower separating mechanism and below therear end of the upper separating mechanism, and a blower arranged at therear of the deiiectingchute and below the rear end of the upperseparating mechanism, substantially as setforth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

NICHOLAS P. PERKINS.

lVitnesses:

BENJ. G, CowL, W. S. HAUER.

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